The femtech revolution is just getting started – but who are the real winners?

What is so revolutionary about femtech? A once-niche term that, since coined by entrepreneur Ida Tin in 2016, has become synonymous with the future of healthcare and technology. 

The concept quickly struck a chord with the broader healthtech landscape, tapping into an underserved market for women’s health. 

The industry has witnessed exponential growth over the last decade, and looking ahead, that momentum seems stronger than ever. 

The global femtech market was valued at around $51bn (£41bn) in 2021, and is projected to hit a valuation of over $177bn (£143bn) by 2032. 

Just last year, Flo Health, the world’s most popular digital menstruation tracker, became Europe’s first ever femtech unicorn – hitting a pre-money valuation of $1bn. 

The UK-based company was founded in 2015 by two Belarusian brothers, Dmitry and Yuri Gurski, and has since generated a worldwide user base of more than 380m. 

A number of other challenger brands have found themselves benefiting from the boom. 

Elvie, the London-based femtech company founded in 2013, recently raised £9.6m, bringing its eight-funding-round total to £136m.

Is it finally getting the attention it deserves? 

While this year’s eye-catching numbers have piqued interest in the sector – further sparking the conversations many have been hoping for – the industry has not gone without its fair share of challenges. 

A McKinsey Health Institute analysis found that 11 start-ups focused on erectile dysfunction received $1.2bn (£0.96bn) from 2019 to 2023, while only eight start-ups addressing endometriosis (a condition affecting a female’s uterus affecting one in ten women) received $44m (£35m). 

Concerns have also surfaced surrounding the narrative that investors prefer to allocate their capital to male-founded femtech teams – a controversy recently coming to light due the success of the male-founded Flo Health’s latest fundraise of over $200m (£160m).

According to Sifted, female-founded femtechs raised $4.6m on average between 2018 and 2023, compared to $9.2m by femtechs founded by all-male teams. 

This discrepancy is all the more striking considering the outcomes for female and male-led start-ups: studies have revealed female-led tech businesses generate 35 per cent higher returns than male-led businesses, according to the Kaufman Foundation.

A lack of understanding

Some say this stark difference has stemmed from investors’ lack of understanding, says Hannah Samano, founder of women’s health platform Unfabled. 

Especially when it comes to the “historically fragmented” women’s health market as a whole, with few holistic firms in the sector. 

Emma Abbasi, founder of femtech start-up Dearbump, however, says despite the controversy, “areas like menopause, fertility, and maternal health are finally getting the attention they need”. 

“Investors are beginning to see how big the market for women’s health really is, and they’re putting money into solutions like health tracking apps, AI-powered tools, and new treatments that meet women’s specific needs,” Abbasi adds. 

The market for menopause products, for example, is projected to grow at a rate of five per cent per year, reaching $24.4bn by 2030, according to a report by Global Information. The market was worth $15.33bn in 2023.  

Femtech in 2025

Advancements in technology have defined the last year and upended a number of industries, and that momentum shows no sign of slowing down. 

Samano – who founded her women’s data-driven consumer health platform Unfabled in 2021 – says AI will be what supercharges the shift towards a number of growth opportunities this year. 

These include the likes of preventative health, data personalisation, and community-driven care. 

“Consumers are demanding tailored solutions, and leveraging data to deliver personalisation – whether in menstrual health, menopause, or fertility – will be a key driver of innovation,” she says.  

“Advances in AI are accelerating this shift, enabling more accurate insights and building new datasets that help us uncover and address women’s unmet health needs in ways we’ve never been able to before.” 

“Advances in AI are accelerating this shift, enabling more accurate insights and building new datasets that help us uncover and address women’s unmet health needs in ways we’ve never been able to before.” 

As technological advancements both encourage and benefit from a reduction in the stigmatization of women’s health issues like menopause and fertility, Dearbump’s Abbasi also envisages the rise of femtech and wellness in the workplace. 

Employers, she says, are “recognising the value of supporting employees through reproductive health and family planning”. 

Time to invest? 

The UK tops the charts as the country with the largest female health gap in the G20, according to the NHS confederation, with women in Britain spending three more years in “ill health and disability” than men. 

And it’s an iniquity with economic as well as social consequences. Based on analysis of 2023 ONS data, the impact of missed work due to a number of women’s health issues sees an economic loss range of £2.2bn to £3.7bn a year. 

Nearly 60,000 women in the UK are unemployed due to menopause symptoms, for example, which has resulted in a loss of £1.5bn. 

Debbie Wosskow, co-founder of supplements brand The Better Menopause, seems confident the sector will prevail. 

She even goes so far as to suggest there will be a “significant” rise in venture capital “as investors recognise this market’s enormous potential for growth and innovation”. 

Wosskow also co-chairs the Invest in Women Taskforce, which has launched a funding pot of more than £250m for female-founded businesses, one of the world’s largest investment pools for female businesses.

“I also predict further partnerships and acquisitions between femtech start-ups and established healthcare providers… There is investment there for femtech start-ups as confidence grows in the sector,” she says.

The sector’s growth and increasing ubiquity, she adds, will also create a self-reinforcing process: “As awareness increases, so does demand for effective solutions… Women want science-driven solutions that really work.”